Planographic printing-press



w. K. HODGMAN.

PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 20 I915.

Patented July 27, 1920.

I SHEETS-SHEET 1- w. K. HODG MAN. PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 20, 19 15.

Patented July 27, 1920.

'7 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ja e/2Z0 r wit/eases x W. K. HODGMAN.

PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 20.1915.

Patented July 27, 1920.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

W. K. HODGMAN. PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION F|L ED OCT 20. 1915.

1,348,006,- Patented July 27,1920;

7 SHEETS-SHEET 5- W. K. HODGMAN.

PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 20. I915.

Patented July 27, 1920.

2 snszfs-snrzr 6.

W. K. HODGMAN.

PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS. APPLICATION FILED OCT 20, 1915.

1,348,006, Patented July 21,1920.

7 SHEETSSHEET 7.

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UNITED STATES PATENT orries.

WILLIS K. HODGMAN, or TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO MIEHLE RINT; me PRESS & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PLANOGRAP HIC IRINTING-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1920.

Application filed October 20, 1915. Serial No. 56,838.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IVILLIS K. I-IoneMAN, a citizen of the -United States, residing at .Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Planographic Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in planographic printing presses and is applicable to both the direct type and'the off-set type of press. In the direct type of press the printing plate prints direct upon the material to be printed and in the offset type the printing plate prints upon 'a rubber blanket, or the like, which in turn transfers or offsets the design upon the material to be printed. Both methods of printing are well known and need no further description except to call attention to the fact that in both types of press the printing members (plate cylinder or flat bed, offset cylinder and impression cylinder) are all timed relative to each other and each equipped ith an impression surface of sufficient area to receive the whole of the largest design the press is intended to print.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide, in place of the usual impression cylinder, an impression member in the form of a roll, of comparatively small diameter and having a true and unbroken periphery which will therefore, give the same printing pressure at any part of its periphery and need not be timed relative to its coacting member; second, to provide suitable means to rotate the impression roll at a surface velocity best suited to the work being done andwhich can be readily adjusted to give the desired surface velocity whether or not it be exactly the same as the surface velocity of the impression rolls co-acting member or a trifle faster or slower; third, to provide, in printing presses wherein sheets are fed to the grippers of a cylinder which carries a freshly inked design, suitable means to prevent the sheets from con tacting with the freshly inked design before the proper time of impression; and, fourth, to provide suitable means to feed sheets in accurate register between two printing members neither of which is equipped with grippers or wherein, when grippers are used, the grippers are not closed upon the sheet until after its leading edge has passed between the two printing members.

In order that the invention'may be read 11y understood by those skilled in the art, preferreo and modified embodiments of the same are set forth in the accompanying drawings and in the following detailed description predicated thereon. Obviously the mvention maybe embodied in other and varied constructional forms, wherefore-it is to be understood that the drawing and description are to be taken in an illustrative and not in an unnecessarily limiting sense. In the drawings- Figure 1 shows a central longitudinal section of a rotary planographic ofi'set press embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sid'eelevation of the same, illustrating the mechanism for tripping or separating the cylinders;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken View of the same, partly cross section; 'Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating another and mechanical means for controlling the contact of the sheet with the design to be printed;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View illustrating in outline a two-color rotary ofi'set press embodying my invention;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary views respectively in vertical section and front ele vation of a rotary planographic press equipped with mechanism for attaining the fourth object of my invention; 7

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing a single color rotary planographic printing press of the direct type equipped with my invention; and

Fig. 9 showsa modified arrangement of the gripper mechanism. 1

From an inspection of the drawing and having particular reference'to Figs. 1 to 3 it will be seen that, the moving parts are mounted in suitable. framework consisting of the side frames 1 and 2, and the cross stay 3, while the plate cylinder 4. is journaled in stationary bearings in the side frames and is equipped with a printing plate 5 in the usual manner. Above the plate cylinder 4, (Fig. 1) the usual ink fountain, ink drum and ink rollers are shown, and at its right are the usual water fountain and water rollers, all of which operate in the usual in end elevation and partly in cylinder v11 is journaled manner to supply ink and water to the printing plate 5 and need no further description. At 46 is indicated the feed board and atthe opposite end of the press is the delivery board 7 which may be arranged, in any well known manner to be gradually lowered, as the'printed sheets accumulate upon it.

The offset cylinder 8 is journaled in movable eccentric bearings 9 mounted in the sideshown in dotted lines only) and are rotated at continuous and uniform speed, in the direction indicated by arrows, by the driving pinion 21 which is fixed on the short shaft22, journaledin the side frame 2, and having fixed on the outer end the usual driving pulley 23. V The delivery reel '14: is rotated from the reel 15 by the usual sprocket chains, shown in dotted lines only, which carry the usual gripper rods, grippers and gripper rests, indicated at 242, which operate in the usual well known manner to receive the printed sheets from the delivery cylinder 12 and deposit them, printed side up,

uponthe delivery board 7.

.Thetwo side rods 25 are fitted to slide in vertical guide ways, in the side frames 1 and 2, andhave a slight up and down range of position which is controlled by the eccentric rock shaft 26, journaled in the side frames, and which is used, at the will of the operator, through mechanism to be described, to move and position the side rods against the pressure of the springs 27, which are always striving to force them up;

The mechanism for operating the side rods 25 consists, In addition to the eccentric rock shaft 26, of the two treadle levers 28, V

set-screwed to it; the two slide-blocks .29,

V which partly surround the eccentric ends of the rock'shaft, just inside the levers 28, and slide when the shaft 26 is rocked, on the two gibs 30 which are adjusted, by the two setscrews 31, tapped through the lower ends of the side rods, to regulate the vertical positions of thesidc rods and,through them, the position of the impression roll 32, which is journaled in their upper-ends.

The compression springs 27 are positioned on the guide rods 33 which are firmly held, by setscrews, at their lower ends, in the projecting lugs 3 1 of the side frames. The

upper ends of the guide rods 33 fit loosely in the lugs on the side rods 25 and the springs 27 ,7 thus confined between the lugs 34 and 35, exert sufficient pressure upward to more than counterbalance the weightfof the side'rods 25 and impression roll 32 and hold the latter firmly and with printing pressure against the offset cylinder when the pressi's printing. The flanged pulley 36 which is secured to one end of the feeding cylinder 11, by two bolts, (Fig. 3) drives the impression roll by means of its flanged pulley 37, shown in dotted lines only, and

'the connecting belt 38, also shown in dotted lines only.

The pulleys 36 and 37 and the belt 38 furnish one simple, effective and very inexpensive means for accomplishing the second object of my invention, for it is obvious that a few pulleys 37, of slightly difierent diameters, could be kept on hand and the right one used to exactly meet the requirements caused by different thicknesses ofstock being printed. is a slack belt over pulleys 36 and 37 0f The preferable arrangement 7 normal diameters, which drives the impres- V sion roll 32' at substantially correct velocity at all times but allows it to be controlled during printing periods by its peripheral contact with the material being printed upon 7 the offset cylinder 8. 7

It will now bereadily understood that I have accomplished the first object of my invention by providing, in place of the usual cumbersome, expensive and necessarily timed impression cylinder, the comparatively small and inexpensive hollow metal impression roll, which does not have to be timed because its periphery is unbroken and can be accurately finished to be perfectly smooth, true and of the same diameter at every point. In other words, in this new and novel impression roll is found a most simple and satisfactory instrumentality for pressing the material to be printed against the design upon the offset cylinder becauseit does its work without any undue drag or friction upon the surface of the said material, which is absolutely essential when fine and continuous results are demanded.

WVhen the operator desires to trip, or sepa rate the impression roll from the offset cylinder, he depresses, by using the one nearest at hand, the treadle levers 28 to the dotted position (Fig. 2) which, through the mechanism previously described, compresses the springs 27 and moves the impression roll 32 away from the offset cylinder 8, and down (in practice about if) from its printing position.

' For tripping the offset cylinder 8 relative to the plate cylinder 4 I have shown a com mon form of mechanism consisting of the two eccentric bearings 9, two connecting rods 39, two levers 40, which latter are fixed on the ends of the rock shaft l1, which has bearings in the side frames 1 and 2; and

der 11 with the said exhaust fan.

it will be understood that by means of the usual'cam (not shown) and the usual connections (not shown) between said cam, rock shaft 41 and the levers 28, the offset cylinder 8 is, after the levers 28 are depressed, caused to be properly tripped and moved (in practice about 1 6 away from the plate cylinder eh This tripping mechanism forthe offset cylinder 8 being well known and forming no part of my invention, needs no further description other than to mention that the eccentric bearings?) are so positioned as to move the cylinder, when tripped in a path that does not perceptibly alter its distance from the feeding cylinder 11 and to point out the reason why the offset cylinder 8 does not conflict, when being tripped, with the delivery cylinder'12 which is located directly in its path. The following description will make the reason plainthe offset cylinder 8 and the delivery cylinder.12 are both equipped with co-acting distance bearers 42 which, together with the spring-pressed rectangular slide boxes 13, (plainly shown in Fig. 2) act to move the delivery cylinder 12 in unison with the offset cylinder 8 and maintain their center distance always the same. The paths of the guideways in the side frames for the boxes 13 are made to guide the movement of the delivery cylinder 12 without perceptibly al-. tering the distance between it and the deliv ery reel 15.

The feeding cylinder 11, offset cylinder 8 and delivery cylinder 12, each carry the usual gripper rod 43, grippers H and gripper rests 415 which together with the usual operating mechanism, not shown, act repectively in the usual way to'direct and carry the sheets through the press from the feed board 16 to the offset cylinder 8, thence to the delivery cylinder 12 and thence to the chain delivery gripping devices 24 previously described and need no further description other than to mention that the grippers of the offset cylinder 8 when closed are, as is usual in many planographic printing presses, slightly within its periphery so as not to strike the cooperating printing member which, in this case, is the impression roll 32. e V

The feeding cylinder 11 is hollow and substantially air tight excepting for the small holes 47 which are drilled through that part of its shell which contacts with the sheets when they are passing from the feed board 46 into the press. The hole 18, (Fig. 3) drilled through one journal of the feeding cylinder 11, and counter-bored to receive the shouldered end of the stationary pipe- 19,. which latter is connected to an exhaust fan, not shown, connects the interior of the cylin- It will now be understood that a partial vacuum can be created, in the feeding cylinder 11,,

and readily regulated to suit the different thicknesses of the materials to be printed mal diameter to-make room, and thus pre- 1 vented from contacting with the inked design upon the ofiset cylinder 8, until they are correctly pressed against it by the impression roll 32. I have now described and illustrated on way of attaining the third object of my invention but will, before passing, describe and illustrate another way of accomplishing the same object and by using mechani cal means only, reference being had to Fig. 4. The exhaust fan and all the other parts and construction necessary to the pneumatic arrangement are discarded and the shapeof the body part of the feeding cylinder 11 is changed to the shape plainly shown in the drawing. The common front guide mechanism, consisting of the front guides 50, the shaft 51 and other regular parts, not

shown, is arranged to operate in the usual manner. The under-guides 52 and the overguides 53 are respectively set-screwed to their rock shafts 54 and 55, which arejournaled in the side frames, and connected together by means of the levers 5G and 57, also set-screwed to the said rock shafts, and the connecting rod 58. Near one end of the rock shaft 54 is set-screwed the lever 59, which carries on a stud at its free end the roller 60 which travels in the cam groove 61 in one end of the feeding cylinder 11.

It will now be readily understood that the front-guides 50, under guides 52 and over-guides 53 will be held in the positions indicatedby the dotted lines, during the time the sheets are being placed in position to enter the press, and that shortly after the front-guides lift and the grippers on the feeding cylinder seize the sheets the under-guides and over-guides will gradually take the positions indicated by the solid lines and thus guide the sheets, away from contact with the inked design upon the offset cylinder and to the impression point between the offset cylinder and the impression roll substantially along the path indicated by the dotted line 62. V

In Fig. 5 is shown in outline a two color rotary offsetpress embodying my invention and to which it lends itself very readily. All the parts described and shown in Figs. 1 to 4 are, or can be used substantially without change, excepting that the delivery cylinder 12 and its co-acting delivery parts are separated from the balance of the press and moved forward sufficiently to make room for the second color device which consists of the transfer cylinder63, plate cylinder 'which act to 4, offset cylinder 8, impression roll 32 'to the eccentric bearings 9 by connecting rods 64, so that the transfer cylinder 63 is moved in unison with the offset cylinder 8 and positively positioned.

It will now be readily understood that the several sets of grippers 44, operating in the usual way, will direct'and carry the sheets through the press from the feed board 416 to the offset cylinder 8, thence to the trans fer cylinder 63, thence to the offset cylinder 8, thence to the delivery cylinder 12, and thence to the chain delivery gripping devices 24 which deposit the sheets printed side up upon the delivery board 7.

I. have shown and described my invention as applied to a two color rotary press but it is obvious that the principle of construction comprehends a rotary multi-color press of any desired number of colors and simply calls for the additional overall length necessary for each color device.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown mechanism appliedto arotary planographic offset press,

for. attaining the fourth object of my invention.

The feeding cylinder which is made up of a suitable number of reels 11 is one-half the diameter of the offset cylinder 8 and is driven from it by gears, not shown, to make two revolutions while the cylinder 8 makes one. The reels 11 are set-screwed to the shaft 65 journaled in the side frames and are equipped with grippers 44 closing on the gripper rests 45 which are bolted to one side of the reels 11 as plainly shown in Fig. 6. The grippers 44: act in the usual manner to take the sheets from the feed board 46 but after carrying them a short distance, in practice about 5} inch, they release their hold and then the feeding of the sheetsis controlled by the friction wheels 66, until they are impinged between the offset cylinder 8 and the impression roll 32, as will be explained.

The friction wheels 66, are mounted .to rotate on studs in the free ends of the levers 67, which latter are .fulcrumed on the stationary shaft 68 and between the hubs of the fingers 69 which are set-screwed to the shaft 68. Located between the levers 67 and the fingers 69 are compression springs 70 force the friction wheels against the unbroken peripheries of the feeding reels 11 which are all of the same diameter.

The under guides 52 set screwed to the stationary shaft 54 and the over-guides 53 set screwed to the stationary shaft 55, act to guide the sheets to the printing point between the offset cylinder 8 and. the impression roll32. The sheet guides 7 1, setscrewed tothe shaft 72, which is mounted in movable brackets, not shown, to move in, unison with the offset cylinder 8 and always-maintain the same position relativeto it. The sheet guides 71, can: therefore be adjusted to just clear the surface of the sheets when on the offsetcylinder and act to prevent them from dropping awayfrom the offset cylinder and keep them-in position to be taken bythe grippers; 44c iof the delivery cylinder 12 as previously described. Itnot being necessary to have grippers on the offset cylinder the rests 45 are fitted almost, even with its periphery and serve to prevent the gripper edges of the sheets from turning in and to keep them straight and in position to be taken by the grippers of the delivery cylinder.

Grippers can beused on the offset cylinder- 8 andwhen used are arranged to close upon the sheets after they have passed between the offset cylinder and the impression roll and therefore no change is required in the height of the rests 45 because the grippers are always open when passing the im pression roll 32. The bite of the friction wheels 66 is located a short distance (in practice about 1; inch) ahead of the gripper edges of the sheets, when they are against the front guides 50 and the grippers ki of the feeding reels 11. are arranged to open and releasethe sheets a short distance (in practice about inch) ahead of theib'ite of the friction wheels. 1

It will now be readily seen that when a sheet is fed into the press, it istaken from the feed board 46 (Fig. 6) bythe grippers 4-4, of the feeding reels 11", in the usual manner, then carried by the grippers under the friction wheels 66, when it is controlled jointly by the grippers and friction wheels untilthe grippers open when the control is left entirely to the friction wheels which feed it, between the guides 52 and 5 until it is impinged between the offset cylinder 8 and the impression roll 32. In other words, the sheet is started in register from the feed board in the usual manner and then controlled by the friction wheels pressing it against the'peripheries of the reels 11 until the printing begins.

The dotted line 62 shows a sheet that has been fed in'the manner described and is about to enter between the offset cylinder and the impression roll.

In Fig. 8 is shown in outline a single color rotary planographic printing press of the direct type. In this type of press it is necessary to equip the impression surface of the impression member with a yielding surface of rubber or the like and in the drawing 1 have illustrated the impression roll 32 as having acovering- 73, of rubber finished true and unbroken. Owing to the methods of rotating the impression roll, previously described, its diameter is not fixed and consequently when the surface of a roll, through accident or long service, becomes slightly dented or worn it can be re-claimed by refinishing it to a smaller diameter. The impression roll can be readily removed or replaced and it is customary to keep an extra one on hand, especially when covered with rubber to prevent any delay.

Referringto Fig. 8, the plate cylinder 4:

is journaled in stationary bearings in the side frame, not shown, and carries the printing plate 5" which is suppliedwith water and ink, in; the regular manner by the usual water and ink devices, indicated by dotted rollers respectively at the left and top'of the {plate cylinder. The leading edge of the plate 5 is clamped'to the cylinder l by the sheet rests 45 which become gripper rests also, when the ,plate cylinder is equipped with grippers.

In the press illustrated in this figure the plate cylinder is not. equipped with grippers because the method of feeding and controlling the sheets is similar to the method described and shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and which, as already understood, does not require the cylindercarryin'g the design which contacts with the sheets tobe printed to be equippedfwith .-grip'pers,-.: although it canbe. we

The impression roll 32 1s journaled 1n movable bearings, not shown. which are (of usual construction and operation and enable it to be tripped or separated from the plate cylinder i" at the will of the operator and it is rotated from the feeding cylinder or reels 11 by'the pulleys 36 and '37 and the belt '38, as .is readily understood from previous description of similar parts.

The feeding of the sheet from the feed board. 46 and the control of it is effected inithe way already described with reference to Figs. 6 and '7 but it will be noted that in thepresent application ofthe similar parts the underguides 52" and over-guides '53 are curved around the top of the feeding reels 11 and'that the distance from the front guides 5O to the bite of the friction wheels 66 is increased. r V

It will now be readily understood that in this application of my invention to a rotary planographic press of the direct type,.the sheets I are taken from the feed board 46 by the grippers i l, of the feeding reels 11 in the usual manner, then carried by the grippers under the friction wheels 66, when they arecontrolled jointly by the grippers and friction wheels until the grippers open, when they are controlled by thefriction wheels 66 and the feeding reels 11 which feed them between the guides '52 and 53 to the printing point between the plate cyl inder 4 and the impression roll-32", then they are guided by the sheet, guides 71 until they are taken by the grippers dd of the delivery cylinder 12 which deliver them to the chain delivery gripping devices 24 which deposit them, printed side up, upon the delivery board 7. i

\Vhen the impression roll is used in an offset printing press it can be wholly of metalv or it can have a yielding surfaceof rubber or the like, but when used in adirect printing press, either planographic or typographic, it is preferably equipped with ayieldi-ng surface.- I g 1 In Fig. 4 I have shown the offset cylinder 8 equipped with grippers 4.4 which latter, when closed, are slightly withinthe periphery of the offset cylinder to keep {them from contacting with'the impression roll 32. N ow, as I have already mentioned, this '85 method of closing grippers within the. .peripheryof a cylinder is common in many planographic printing presses and quite satisfactory although it slightly bends thegrip per edges of the sheets. It is obvious, .ho vever, that for close register work it is best that the sheets be kept as fiat and smooth as possible at all times. Therefore grippers which do not-tendto be'n'dthe edges of the sheets are'preferable and in Fig. 9 ,I'have illustrated the preferred grippers as applied 44,w-hen clo'sed,proj'ect the amount of their th ckness beyond the surface of the 'b lanke't.

To prevent the closed grippers from striking the impression roll 32 theo'flset cyl- 'inder 8' is equipped with two ca'ms 7 4;, each bolted with two bolts to the ends of the said cylinder. The cams 74 project beyond the surface of the blanket 10 a little more than thethickness of the grippersal and' acting against the periphery of the impression roll 32 compress the springs 27 2') sufficiently to permit the grippers to freely pass. the impression roll whe'nlthe la'tt' er'is returned by the springs'i27 to .printing position. v V I might now describe and. illustrate by drawings my impression'roll andmeans for feeding and controlling thesheets as applied to a rotary 'Inulti-col'or planographic printing press of 'the direct type andlfthel same as 1 20 applied to. single and multi-color rotary 7 by the said roll may'follow the surface velocity'of the said sheets when pressing them riphery topress the sheets to be printed against the said design, and frictional driving means providing slippage to rotate the said impression roll from a source of power other'than' the printing, cylinder at a ve locity flexibly suited to the work being done.

2. In a rotary printing press, a cylinder carrying a design-to be printed, an impression roll having a true and unbroken periphery to press the sheets to be printed against the said design, and frictional-driving means independent of the printing cylinder tending to rotate the said roll normally at substantially the velocity of the said cylinder but permitting slippage whereagainst the said design.

3. In a" rotary printing press, a

that of the printing cylinder and having a true and unbroken periphery to press the 7 eluding a belt and'pulleys constituting friction means to permit of the impression roll accommodating itself by slippage to the same surface speedjas that of the design."

,4:- Ina rotary printing press, a cylinder carrying a design to be printed'and also provided with grippers, an impression roll free from grippers and having a' true and unbroken periphery positionedbeneath the said cylinder, a; sheet" feeding cylinder l equipped with grippers positioned at one side of the impression roll, and a sheet delivering cylinder equipped with grippers positioned at the opposite side of the impression roll. I

V In a rotary printingflpr'ess, a cylinder carrying a design to be printed, an impression roll having a. true and unbroken periphery positioned beneath the said cylinder, a sheet feeding cylinder equipped with grippers positioned; at one side of the impressionroll, a, sheet; delivering cylinder equipped with grippers positioned at the opposite side vof the impression roll, means to move the impression roll into and outof printing relation withithe design carrying cyllnder, and, frictional dr ving means for the impression roll tending to rotate t at substantially Itheyelocity of the design carrying cylinder but'permitting it to follow the exact velocity of the; design carrying 7 cylinder when in printing relation with it. 5

6 11 1 a rotary offset printing press, a cylinderkcarrying a design to be prlnted, an

offset cylinder carrying a rubber blanket andequipped with grippers positioned beneath the design carrying cylinder,an imcylinder carrying a design to be printed, an impression roll of materially less diameter than pression roll having a true and unbroken 'pe riphery positioned beneath the offset cylinder, a sheet feeding cylinder equipped with grippers, positioned at one side of the impression roll and co acting with the offsetcylinder, a sheet delivering cylinder equipped with grippers positioned at the opposite side of-the' impression roll and coacting with the offset cylinder, means to move the impression'roll into and out of printing relation Witllthfl offset cylinder, and a driving belt for the impression roll tending to rotate it normally at substantially the velocity offthe offset cylinder but permitting it to follow the exact 'velocity of the offset cylinder when in printing re time of impression. i

8., In a'rotaryprinting press, a cylinder equipped with grippers and carrying a design to be printed, an impression cylinder,

a perforated hollow feed cylinder to-feed the sheets into the said grippers, andsuction means to cause thelsheet to hug the periphery of the feed cylinder whereby to hold the same away from, contact with the design until pressed thereagainst by the'iinpression cylinder.

9. In a rotaryrnulti-color printing press, V

printing couples each consisting iof a cylinder carrying a design to be printed and also provided with grippers and an'impression roll free from grippers and having astrue and unbroken periphery, a sheet feeding cylinder equipped with grippers to feed a .sheet to the first printing couple, a cylinder equipped with grippers to transferfthe sheet from the first printingcoupleto the next printing couple, and a cylinder equipped with grippers to take thesheetnfromithe last printing couple and-deliver it to a sheet carrying and piling mechanism 10. In a rotary multi-color offset printing press, printing trios each consisting of a cylinder carrying a design to be printed and also provided with grippers, an offset cylinder. and an impression 'roll free from grippersand having atrueandunbroken periphery, a sheet'feedingvcylinder equippedwith grippers to feeds sheet. to the first printing trio, a cylinder equipped with grippers to transfer the-sheet from the first printing trioto theanext printing trio, and a cylinder equipped with grippers said cylinders and then return the co-acting to take the sheet from the last printing trio cylinder to printing position. and deliver it to a sheet carrying and, piling In testimony whereof I have hereunto mechanism. signed my name in the presence of two sub- 5 11. In a rotary printing press, a cylinder scribing witnesses.

carrying grippers which when closed roject beyond the periphery of the said cy iin- ELLIS HODGMAN' der, {L co-acting cylinder, and means to move liVitnesses: Y i the (so-acting cylinder to permit the free F RED H. NOYES,

l0 passage of thesaid grippers between the NOBLE W. ASHLEY. 

